I'll Love You Through It
by XOXOJordan
Summary: Mark and Lexie had the perfect life. They had great jobs and a great family. But not everything stays perfect and when one member of the Sloan family must learn to fight for her life, will they all survive?
1. Chapter 1

Lexie Sloan smiled at her husband of fifteen years. Mark was currently making breakfast while she packed the kids lunches. It was like this every morning, Mark made the breakfast and Lexie made lunches. On today's menu was pancakes for breakfast and turkey sandwiches for Mattie and Nate while the twins got peanut butter and banana sandwiches for lunch, along with a bag of chips and either yogurt or a pudding.

Mark and Lexie got pregnant with there first child a year after they were married. After Mattie, two years later Nate was born and then four years ago Lexie had twins Rylie and Ryan.

Mattie was the spitting image of both her mother and father. She had Lexie's dark curly locks while she had Marks aqua blue eyes. She adored her younger siblings always helping her parents when they needed it, and she was smart just like Lexie was and she loved to play soccer.

Nate was a little ladies man. He could get any girl he wanted just by smiling at them. He was a great big brother to the twins always helping out when needed and he loved astronomy and basketball.

Then there were the four year old twins. Rylie was a little tom boy always wanting to get messy. She would rather climb a tree then play with barbies yet she loved her dance class. Ryan was the trouble maker of the group. If the twins were doing something wrong you would find Ryan with that sweet little smile that could help him get away with anything.

"What's for breakfast?" Twelve year old Nate asked as him and the twins came down stares for breakfast.

"Pancakes." Mark said with a smile as he put one on each child's plate. "Where Is Mattie?"

"I think she is still asleep." Nate said as poured syrup on his pancakes followed by taking a very big bite

"It's a school day." Lexie says with a puzzled look on her face looking at her husband. Mattie was a straight A student who hated to miss school. She was only 14 and she was already a Sophomore.

"Maybe she is sick?" Mark asked.

Deciding to see what was wrong Lexie headed upstairs and walked into Mattie's room. Her room was fairly clean except a few text books laying open on her desk. She had her TV on and something on MTV was playing. Switching of the TV Lexie looked over at Mattie who seemed to be sound asleep.

Walking over to her Lexie sat down on her bed and gently shook her. "Mattie your going to be late for school sweetie." Lexie said sweetly.

"I don't feel good." Mattie mumbled under her breath as she turned over and pulled her covers up under her chin.

Lexie placed her hand on Mattie's forehead. "You don't feel warm. I'll come check up on you in a little while." Lexie said standing up and kissing Mattie's forehead before walking out the door shutting it gently behind her.

Mattie kept her eyes closed tightly as she tried to sleep. It wasn't that she didn't feel good. She was just really tired. She always seemed tired lately. Yesterday she even fell asleep in class. Something she had never done in her life. She was so tired that she didn't even want to go to school, one of her favorite places to be.

Once Lexie got downstairs she found breakfast done and the three kids heading outside to wait for the school bus.

"What's wrong with Mattie?" Mark asked as they followed them out the door. Mark and Lexie always tried to wait for the bus with the children if they could, they did the same at the end of the day. Both Mark and Lexie worked long hours and shifts so they tried to spend as much time as possible with the kids.

"She said she doesn't feel good. She didn't feel worm though.."

"Poor baby." Mark said with a frown. "I'll pick up her favorite soup on my way home today. I shouldn't be late I only have one surgery."

"I'm sure she would love that." Lexie smiled

They said goodbye to the kids as they climbed up on the bus and Mark headed off to work while Lexie went inside to check on Mattie.

Mark arrived home later on that afternoon with a brown paper bag in tow. Inside was Mattie's favorite soup, chicken noodle from the deli a few streets down from the hospital. He had had a very short shift at the hospital that day. He just went in to check up a few of his patients and then he treated a little boy who decided he wanted to help his mom cook. After applying some burn cream to the little boys hand and wrapping it up he was good as new. When he walked inside the house he found Lexie sitting on the couch reading a book.

"How's Mattie?" He asked as he kissed her forehead.

"Sleeping. That's all she has been doing. She doesn't have a fever or anything. She just says she is tired and that her muscles ach." Lexie explained to Mark as she placed her book down.

"Maybe she is tired from soccer. The couch has been running them pretty hard lately."

"Maybe." Lexie said with a sigh but she wasn't so sure. She just had that gut feeling that something was wrong with Mattie. She just couldn't figure out what it was.

Mark sat down next to Lexie and put in arm around her shoulder. He could tell his wife was worried. "She is probably just coming down with the flu or something." He said trying to reassure her. "If she is still not back to her old self in a few days will take her to the doctor."

"Your right." Lexie said standing up and walking into the kitchen. She started to pull out the ingredients for spaghetti. "I'm probably just worrying about nothing."

"Yeah maybe its just that time of the month?" Mark said with a guess.

Lexie just stared at him. "He obviously had no idea what he was talking about."

"Alright I'm shutting up now." He said with a laugh as he went to help her cook dinner.


	2. Chapter 2

"Mattie your moms here to pick you up." Mrs. Garth, her math teacher told her as she turned in her quiz. Walking back to her desk Mattie gathered her books, waved goodbye to her best friend, and cousin Ashlyn and walked towards the office.

It had been a week since she stayed home and she still wasn't feeling like her old self. She was always tired and she wasn't nearly as hungry as she used to be. After having to sit out half way through the biggest soccer match of the season because she got dizzy and was having trouble breathing both her parents decided it was time for her to see a doctor.

"Your moms waiting for you in the car." Pat the school receptionist told Mattie with a smile.

"Thanks." She said smiling back as she walked out into the parking lot.

"How was your day?" Lexie asked when Mattie sat down in the passenger seat.

"It was good. If you had arrived just ten minutes earlier you would have helped me get out of a math quiz." Mattie said with a laugh.

Lexie laughed and shook her head. "I'm sure you aced it."

"Mattie Sloan?" The receptionist at the doctors office called shortly after the two arrived. Mattie and Lexie walked back into the exam room, Mattie climbing up on the examination table, Lexie sitting in a nearby chair. Even though both her parents were doctors and she group up in a hospital she still hated to go when it was her as the patient.

"How are you guys today?" Dr. Samson says as he walks into the room with a smile on his face. "Its good to see you Dr. Sloan, and Mattie." Dr. Samson had been the family pediatrician for years. He has gone through everything with the Sloan family wither it was the chicken pox, an ear infection or the average cold.

"You too." Lexie said and Mattie smiled.

"So your mom tells me you have been awful tired lately?" He asked Mattie as he sat down in a stool and pulled out her chart.

"Yeah and the other day during my soccer game I got real dizzy and had trouble breathing." She told him.

"Well lets do a quick examination and blood test and then ill send it off to the lab."

Mark walked towards his office ready to go home to his family. Today had been a rather busy day and he didn't have a chance to ask Lexie how Mattie's doctors appointment had gone. On his way to his office and noticed everyone was staring at him and it almost looked like they felt sorry for him. Not sure what was going on he shrugged it off.

"Dr. Sloan, if you or your family need anything at all just call." Nancy one of the head nurses told him as he dropped off his charts.

"What are you talking about?" Mark asked confused.

"We heard about Mattie?" She said sadly. "That is such a horrible thing for a young girl to go through."

Mark just looked at her puzzlingly but then his pager beeped. Why was he being paged to head down to the lab? He thought as he read it.

When he arrived there he found Derek and the families pediatrician, Dr. Samson talking. "Did you page?" Mark asked when the two noticed him standing there.

"Dr. Sloan I was hoping you were still here. I ran into Dr. Shepherd and had him page you" He said as he guided him over towards a chair. "I wanted to talk to you before I called your wife."

"What's going on?" He asked "Mattie came in for her check up today and I had them send her blood test to the lab. I'm sorry Dr. Sloan but it appears to be that Mattie tested positive for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia."

"No. She, she can't have cancer." Mark said shaking his head. "We thought it was just the flu or maybe, maybe she was anemic."

"We need a bone marrow aspiration to conform the diagnosis but its pretty clear."

Mark Sloan only cried a matter of times in his life when his mother died, when Callie was in the car wreck and they lost Sophie and now. Mattie was his little girl. She didn't deserve to go through this she was a teenager, she had so much going for her in life. She was a sophomore in high school and not even 15. She hadn't had her first kiss or gone to her prom. She was still a baby, she was his baby.

"You sure you don't want me to go with you?" Derek asked as they walked outside the hospital.

"No id rather tell them myself." Mark said sadly as he climbed into the drivers seat. He looked up on his dashboard to find Mattie's school picture taped up. She was smiling happily and her long curly chestnut brown hair flowed over her shoulders her blue eyes shinning. He couldn't help but think that in a matter of weeks she would no longer look like the same girl.

Mark parked the car into the driveway and stopped when he got to the front door. Everything about his family was about to change. They would no longer be the happy Sloan family. Slowly turning the doorknob he walked inside ready to break the news to his family.

The house was quiet and he figured the twins were in bed already. He could hear Lexie in the kitchen doing dishes.

"Where's Mattie and Nate?" Marked asked as he stood in the doorway.

"I didn't know you were home already." Lexie said happily as she dried her hands. "There both finishing up there homework before bed." Lexie could sense that something was wrong. Mark wasn't acting like himself. "What's wrong?" She asked worriedly.

Mark sighed. "Come sit down in the living room." Mark took Lexie by the hand and guided her into the living room and onto the couch.

"Mark what- what's going on."

"I ran into Dr. Samson at the hospital today. He was taking a look at Mattie's blood test."

"Is she Anemic like we thought?" Mark shook his head. "Oh so it's the flu?"

Mark shook is head again. No husband wanted to break the news he was about to break to his wife. "Lexie," He said softly. "Mattie has Leukemia."

"No." Lexie said shaking her head as her hand covered her mouth. "There- there must be something wrong." She told Mark as her eyes filled with tears. "She's my little girl." Lexie cried into Marks shoulder as he pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her tightly.

An hour later Lexie decided it was time to tell Mattie. The two walked hand and hand into Mattie's bedroom. Lexie couldn't help but realize that she would no longer be a normal teenager after today. After today she would be considered a cancer patient. She would spend the majority of her time hooked up to an IV fighting to stay alive. When they got to her room the door was standing open and you could hear music quietly playing through her docking station. She was lying on her floor with her history book open, texting away on her phone.

"Hey Mattie." Lexie said as her and Mark came and sat down on her bed.

"Is my music to loud?" Mattie asked hoping she hadn't woken up the twins. "I can turn it down."

"Your music's fine honey." Mark said with a smile. "Come sit down me and mom have something to talk to you about."

"What's up?" Mattie asked as she sat down by her dad.

"I talked to Dr. Samson today at the hospital." Mark told her.

Mattie nodded. "Did he say what was wrong with me? Am I anemic like you and mom thought?"

"No honey your not anemic." Lexie said placing her hand on Mattie's shoulder.

"Well that's good right?"

"Mattie your blood test showed leukemia." Mark told her as softly as he could.

"You- you mean I have cancer?" She asked her parents her voice quivering as her eyes filled with tears. "I- I don't want to die." she said shaking her head before she wrapped her arms around Marks neck. "Daddy I don't want to die." She sobbed.

"It's gonna be ok." Mark told her as he held her and kissed her head. "Everything is going to be fine."

**I hope you are all enjoying my story. The more reviews I get the faster I will update. Same goes for my other stories. I sure hope that with season 8 we get to see Slexie back together! I hate seeing them apart. I just watched the episode were they first break up in season 6 and it makes me sad still! They are meant to be together. Anyways enough with my rant. Please review and tell me what you think, good and bad. **

**XOXOJordan**


	3. Chapter 3

The drive to the hospital the next morning felt like years. Lexie had called Meredith to tell her the news while Mark called the hospital to make sure there was a room all ready for Mattie. Mattie had cried her self to sleep in her fathers arms and when she woke up the next morning the couldn't help but start crying again.

She didn't ask for this. She just wanted to be a regular teenage girl. She wanted to go to football games and parties. She wanted to have her first real boyfriend and go to prom.

How was she going to tell her friends? She was sure Aunt Meredith and Uncle Derek would tell Ashleyn but what about the rest of her friends? Like Ali and Kennedy? Or Shawn? She was supposed to go out with him on Friday. What was she going to say? Shawn I cant go out on our date anymore I'm in the hospital I have cancer.

"When are they going to do the bone aspiration?" Mattie asked from the back seat. She hadn't said much all morning. She sat on her bed while her parents busily packed her bag for the hospital and at breakfast she played with her food more then eating it. They still hadn't told the rest of the kids. They just thought Mattie was going to the doctor again all though she was sure Nate sensed something off.

"Alex said that they will probably do it right away." Lexie told her as she turned around and squeezed Mattie's hand.

"I want Alex to do it." Mattie told both her parents before looking back out the window. Alex was her uncle and if anyone was going to stick a big needle in her hip it was going to be him. Alex had always been Mattie's favorite and the two were fairly close.

When they arrived at the hospital Alex was already there waiting for Mattie. When she saw him she jumped out of the car and ran towards him. Alex wrapped his arm around her and held her as she tried not to cry.

"Everything's going to be ok kiddo." He told her as he rubbed her back and kissed her on top of the head.

A few moments later Lexie and Mark walked over to the two. Mark was carrying Mattie's bag and purse. "Thanks for doing this Alex." Lexie said as she gave him a hug.

"No problem." He told her "Ready to go?" He asked Mattie as he motioned for her to sit down in the wheelchair.

"Will see you when you get done." Lexie told her as she kissed her forehead.

"Love you baby girl." Mark said bending down to give her a hug.

"Love you to daddy."

"Alright I'm going to put numbing cream on your hip so it helps when we do the bone marrow aspiration." Alex told Mattie as he lifted up her hospital gown and covered her legs and the rest of her lower half with a sheet. "Alright this might sting and you might feel a burning sensation but it should only last for a few minutes." He told her. "on the count of three, one, two, three," Alex gently inserted the needle and began to retract the bone marrow.

Mattie tightly closed her eyes trying not to cry. It was no sting that was for sure. She had never felt something hurt this bad before. "Ow, ow ow." She cried out.

Using his free hand Alex rubbed soothing circles on Mattie's back. "Were almost done." He told her as he got the last bit of bone marrow and began to take out the needle. After securing gauze down with a band aid he bent down and moved Mattie's hair away from her tear stained cheeks. "You did great." he told her with a smile as he kissed her forehead.

Alex wanted Mattie to lay there for thirty minutes after the procedure to help minimize the pain and the discomfort she might feel. Mattie hadn't realized how tired she was until she slowly started to drift off to sleep. When she woke up Alex was back with her wheel chair ready to take her to her hospital room.

"Ready to see your home away from home?"

"I guess." She told him with a yawn as she climbed off the stretcher bed and into her wheel chair. She tried to ignore the slight pain in her hip as she walked.

When they arrived at her room both her parents were waiting for her along with a young female doctor named Dr. Sinclair. She began to explain the type of cancer Mattie had along with the treatment they would start her on. Her parents along with Alex listened word for word while Mattie tuned the rest of the world out. She was smart, she new that she had blood cancer, that she would be going through rounds of chemotherapy maybe even a bone marrow transplant at someone point.

"When do we start?" Lexie asked as she squeezed Marks hand.

"We would like to get her started today." He told the family.

"Am I going to lose my hair?" Mattie asked as she ran her hand through her locks.

"Chemotherapy affects everyone differently but that Is one of the side affects."

"How often will she be getting treatment?" Mark asked as he ran his hand through his hair.

"We would like to start her out at once a week." She told the family.

After talking for a few more moments Dr. Sinclair told them that a nurse would be in shortly to insert her IV and start her first round of chemo. Mattie walked over to her bed and grabbed her stuffed bear, Teddy her parents had given her as a child. It was her favorite stuffed animal. When she was little she used to take it everywhere with her.

A pager sounded and all three surgeons looked at one another to see who's it was. Both Mark and Lexie sighed when the found out it was there's. Lexie had gone into plastics just like her husband so they both tended to be on some of the same cases.

"It's 911." Lexie told Mark as she looked at him then Mattie.

"Go." Mattie told her parents. "I'll be fine. I'll read a book or something."

"Ill stay with her until my breaks over." Alex told the two.

Mattie picked up the remote and looked for something to watch on TV. After searching every channel and not finding anything she groaned and turned the TV off.

"I can go get cards or a board game from the play room if you want." Alex told her. He new she was getting bored.

"I'm fine." She told him. Silence filled the room as the two didn't know what to say. "I don't want people to feel sorry for me." Mattie told Alex a few moments later. "I don't want to be known as the girl with cancer. I want to go back to school and not have people staring and whispering about me behind my back."

Getting up from the couch Alex walked over to Mattie and sat down next to her. "Look at me." He told her as he tilted her chin up. "Screw them. Anyone who is going to treat you different or act different around you isn't your friend. So screw them." He told her with a smile. "You are going to kick cancers ass and then you are going to go on to continue your life and do wonderful things. You understand young lady?"

Mattie nodded her head yes while giving Alex a hug. She hopped he was right


	4. Chapter 4

Mattie groaned as she felt her stomach turn knowing that it had finally hit her, the nausea and vomiting. "I think I'm going to be sick." She said out loud. Lexie was by her side with a pink bucket just in time for Mattie to empty the contents of her stomach.

"It's gonna be ok honey." Lexie told Mattie as she rubbed her back and kept her hair from falling right into the bucket. Reaching for the remote Lexie called a nurse.

Mattie wasn't sure who handed it to her let alone did she care, when a new bucket was under her chin, ready to be filled with the contents of her stomach. Ten minutes later nothing was left and she just dry heaved.

"Do you wanna go to the bathroom?" Lexie asked as she massaged Mattie's shoulders. Mattie shook her head no as she tried to control her heavy breathing. Who new throwing up could take so much energy out of somebody?

"I think I'm-" Mattie was going to say done but soon another bout came over her and she was once again throwing up into the bucket.

Watching Mattie's stomach muscles contract so violently broke Lexis's heart. Mattie had never been sick this much before. She had only had the flu once and even when she was a baby she rarely threw up.

Mattie closed her eyes tightly and leaned her head back against her mom's chest. "Are you sure you don't want to go to the bathroom?" Lexie asked again.

Mattie once again shook her head no. "I think I'm done. For real this time." She said her voice filled with exhaustion.

Mattie leaned her head back against her pillow curling into a ball. As if throwing up hadn't already made her feel like crap the room was spinning and her head was killing her. Lexie pulled her cover up to her chin tucking her in and kissing her forehead.

"Sleep." Mattie didn't respond as she finally fell into what Lexie only hoped was a peaceful sleep.

This was going to go on for three days. Three long days of an endless round of toxic chemicals being pumped into Mattie's body. Three endless days of throwing up and being weaker than a five year old.

Mattie's treatment plan would consist of three days of none stop chemo, then a week off, then three more days and so on.

A nurse came in a little while later to check Mattie's vitals, She assured Lexie that everything was good, her temperature was normal as well as her blood pressure and heart rate.

"I'll be back in an hour to get her started on her next round, this one is almost up."

Lexie gave her a small smile as she picked her book up that she had brought to occupy herself. She couldn't get much reading done however. Her mind just kept going back to Mattie and how these next few weeks, months, maybe even years were going to be such a struggle on their family.

Mark walked into Mattie's room just in time to witness round number too. Lexie was sitting behind Mattie massaging her shoulders while a nurse held onto a tiny pink bucket and Mattie's hair. Mark walked over to the three of them and gave the nurse a smile while he took the bucket from her and sat down on the other side of Mattie.

Mattie let out a weak smile just as her stomach muscles contracted and she threw up once again into the bucket.

"Drink." Mark told her as he held up a small cup of water to her lips. "We don't want you to get dehydrated."

"I- I need to pee." Mattie said after taking a few sips of water. Mark and Lexie both placed their arms around Mattie's waist as they helped her walk to the bathroom. A walk that would have taken any healthy person not even a minute took the three of them ten. When they reached the bathroom Mark let Lexie do the rest, knowing that his teenage daughter might not like the idea of her father watching her pee.

"Hey Mark." Lexie said calmly from the bathroom. "Can you come here?"

Opening the door Mark looked in the bathroom to find an exhausted looking Mattie sitting on the toilet. "Will you carry her back to bed?" Lexie asked.

"Let's get you back to bed." Mark said as he slipped one arm under Mattie's knees and the other supporting her back. Mattie leaned her head on his shoulder. Lexie trailed beside them as she pushed Mattie's IV pole.

"Thank you daddy," Mattie said quietly as Mark placed her back in bed pulling her covers over her small frame.

"Get some rest." Mark said as he pushed her hair off her clammy forehead and kissed her.

Mark went over and sat down next to Lexie pulling her in for a hug. "This is only day one." Lexie said with a sigh.

"Two more to go then she gets to go home."

"Until next week." Lexie didn't know she was crying until she felt Mark brush away a tear off her cheek. "We have to tell the rest of the kids."

"We will tonight. Alex is on call tonight so he said he would stay with her, so we can get everything figured out at home."

Lexie nodded. "Alright but I want to wait till she wakes up before we leave."

"And make sure she eats some of her dinner." Lexie told Alex as he and Mark got ready to leave.

"Lexie I got this. Me and Mattie will be fine wont we Mads?"

Mattie looked over at her mom and smiled. When she woke up around in hour earlier she seemed much better than earlier. She hadn't gotten sick again and her face wasn't as near as pale.

"Alright calls us if anything happens." Lexie said still not budging.

"Mom I am going to be fine, I'll probably fall asleep within the next hour anyways."

After a few more minutes of convincing Mark finally managed to get Lexie to leave. Mattie looked down at her plate of hospital food then back up at Alex. "Are you really going to make me eat this?" She asked disgusted, not even sure what this was.

"Nope I am going to make you eat this." He said sitting down a brown bag with the words Bread Co on it.

Mattie smiled. "This is way better."


	5. Chapter 5

It was later on that night when Mattie decided that Bread Co was probably not the best idea. She woke up to her room dark except for the small glow of the TV hanging on her wall. Looking at the clock she saw that it was nearly three in the morning. Alex was sleeping on the tiny pull out couch that was in her room. Trying to ignore her upset stomach she reached for her phone for the first time since she had arrived at the hospital. There were two texts from Ashleyn as well as one from Ali and one from Kennedy.

Mattie sighed when she read Kennedy's text. She wanted the four of them to go dress shopping for their spring formal. The formal was in a month, there was no way she was going to be able to go to it now and even if she could she wouldn't want to. She was going to look ugly, her hair would probably be gone and who knows what other side effects that her doctor told her about would affect her. Maybe she would be covered in a hideous rash or be fat because of water weight. The options were endless.

Setting her phone back down Mattie turned on her side and curled into a ball. Closing her eyes tightly she fought back the tears and the nausea and somehow fell asleep.

When she woke up later she found that Alex was gone and her dad was sitting there working on some charts. "Morning sunshine," He said as he walked over to her and kissed her forehead. "How are you feeling?"

Mattie snuggled up closer to her dad and laid her head on his shoulder. "Ok. My head kind of hurts, where is mom?"

"She was paged early this morning. She is in surgery right now."

"Did you tell Nate and the twins?"

Mark nodded. "It was hard to explain to the twins. We told them you were sick and that it would be awhile before you get better."

"How did Nate take it?"

Mark sighed. "He was pretty upset. He wanted to come see you instead of going to school. I promised him I would bring him by when he gets out. That is if you're feeling ok?"

Mattie smiled. "I want to see him."

It was later on that morning when Mattie was picking at her breakfast when she got another visitor. She couldn't figure out why the hospital expected her to eat this. As if her stomach wasn't already turning at the thought of food, they placed a tray filled of eggs that taste like Styrofoam and toast that was as stale as cardboard in front of her.

"Playing hookie?" Looking up from her scrambled eggs and toast she saw Ashleyn standing in the doorway.

"Ash!" Mattie said happily as her best friend came over and gave her a hug.

"Mom told me last night. I was going to call you but she insisted that I wait to talk to you today." Ashleyn said as she sat down next to Mattie.

"Yeah yesterday wasn't one of my best days, and today won't be either if they make me eat this nasty breakfast." Mattie told her as she threw her fork down.

"Here I'll help you with that." Grabbing the fork Ashleyn took a big bite of Mattie's breakfast.

Mattie scrunched up her knows. "How can you eat that?"

Ashleyn shrugged. "It's not that bad." She told her as she finished off a piece of toast before leaning back against the bed.

"Good you ate your breakfast." The nurse said as she came to check Mattie's vitals and get her started on her next dose of chemo. Both girls looked at each other and burst out laughing. What the nurse didn't know wouldn't kill her.

"I bought you a few gifts." Ashleyn said once the nurse left. "The hospital may have been fun when we were little kids but since you're the patient and all I figured you would get bored." She explained. Reaching into her book bag she pulled out a stack of magazines, a fuzzy pink and zebra striped blanket and what looked like a pile of DVDs. "We have every magazine that has been issued in the last few months, One Tree Hill seasons 1, 2 and 3, The Notebook and Sweet Home Alabama and then I convinced mom to stop by your house and bring your favorite blanket." Ashleyn said obviously proud at what she brought.

"No Season 4? You know season four is my favorite." Ashleyn crossed her arms and glared at her. Mattie just laughed. "I'm just kidding. Thanks Ash, you're the best bestie ever."

"I know. Now what do you want to watch first?"

"If you were Lucas who would you pick?" Ashleyn asked Mattie. The two had been watching One Tree Hill for the last few hours. "Brooke or Peyton?" Looking over at Mattie she saw that she had fallen asleep.

"Brooke of course," Meredith said as she walked into Mattie's hospital room.

"Hey Mom." Ashleyn said with a smile.

"Wanna go down to the cafeteria and get some lunch?" Meredith asked as she sat down on the couch.

"Sure." Getting up, Ashleyn slipped on her shoes. Meredith put her arm around her daughter and they headed down to the cafeteria. "She's gonna be alright isn't she?" Ashleyn asked her mom as they sat down at a table. "She isn't going to die right?"

Meredith sighed. She knew how hard this was going to be on Ashleyn. The two were two years apart but they had always been inseparable. When they were little they would spend days at a time together and never once got tired of one another.

"Ashleyn you know that I can't answer that. I can tell you that they are going to do whatever they can to make her better and that it could take months maybe even years. Her cancer is treatable and as long as they make sure it doesn't grow rapidly then she will hopefully beat it."

"I know." Ashleyn said with a nod as tears filled her eyes.

"Come here." Opening her arms out Ashleyn came and sat on Meredith's lap as she cried into her mom's shoulder.

Once Ashleyn had calmed down the two finished up there lunch. Meredith had to get back to work so Ashleyn headed back up to Mattie's room. When she got there she stopped in the doorway. Uncle Mark was holding back Mattie's hair while she threw up into some bucket. Turning around Ashleyn ran down the hall and into an empty hall as the tears began to fall. She couldn't do this. She thought she was strong enough but she couldn't watch her best friend die.


End file.
